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In the first episode of our special series Traces of China, we look at how classical English gardens were transformed by Chinese garden design principles.
Before the influences and practice of Chinese design reached British shores in the 18th century, English gardens were built around the rigid geometry and controlled symmetry of the French and Italian styles.
But this formality was revolutionized by Chinese principles, which sought to bring natural landscapes into the garden space.
The earliest record of Chinese garden design was in 500 BC in the city of Suzhou, often referred to as the birthplace of classical Chinese gardens. Principles developed there soon spread across China, and onto the rest of the world.
The Chinese approach wasn't about imposing geometric order but distilled the essence of nature's grandeur into intimate spaces.
In the UK, this love affair, which bloomed originally in the grand estates of the British aristocracy, gradually filtered into the country's urban spaces.
When you encounter Chinese plants in a city setting, their impact on the British planting palette is perhaps most evident.
Shrubs that seem so "quintessentially British" like camellia, hydrangea and chrysanthemum are all of Chinese origin and would have been welcome guests when they first appeared in British urban areas.
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Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466